Rumours captures a common sequence of human emotion

At Least I Didn’t Choose Sgt. Pepper

by Alex Locke

Thedogwood.org

Being relatively young and impressionable, it seems impossible at this point in my life to say anything with very much certainty, but I am going to say this anyway—I don’t think I will ever come across anything quite as emotionally resonant as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. Unfortunately, I can’t say with much confidence that I will feel this way for long. When I was sixteen I thought The Wall so brilliantly intertwined music and narrative that I would never be able to find anything better. And when I was seventeen, I thought no one could ever create an album as intriguingly morose and lonely as OK Computer. And when I was twenty, every time I listened to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, I thought I would never hear anything quite as nostalgic in my entire life. And now, at age twenty-one, Rumours has become the most important sequence of eleven songs in my extensive music collection.

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CHARTS AND SALES OF RUMOURS DVD-A AND THE VERY BEST OF

In Australia Fleetwood Mac's "The Very Best Of" has been a constant seller re-entering the Top 50 Album Chart every year since it first appeared in October 2003. It peaked at #17 in June 2006. This week (August 3rd Issue) the cd re-enters the chart at #44 marking it's 77th week within the Top 50.

Here's another tidbit of information:

"Sales of DVD-Audio discs more than doubled in 2002. According to Nielsen SoundScan, an estimated 309,000 DVD-Audio music units were purchased, up 171% from 2001. The best seller is Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (Warner) at 17,000 units.

THE POWERFUL, ENDURING PRESENCE OF STEVIE NICKS

STEVIE NICKS

The Soundstage Sessions (Reprise)
US release date: 31 March 2009
UK release date: 30 March 2009

By Christian John Wikane
PopMatters Contributing Editor

I miss new albums by Stevie Nicks. Tearing the plastic off a Stevie Nicks record that contains completely unknown material is a thrill that listeners have only truly experienced six times since her 1981 solo debut, Bella Donna. Compilations occasionally fill those long gaps with a new song here and there, but they do not summon the same charge as a whole set of songs that Nicks is introducing for the first time.

Scanning the track list of The Soundstage Sessions, portions of a concert Nicks recorded in October 2007 for the PBS Soundstage program, there are eight titles familiar to anyone with a cursory knowledge of Nicks or Fleetwood Mac, plus a cover of “Crash” by Dave Matthews Band and Bonnie Raitt’s “Circle Dance”, which Nicks sings with Vanessa Carlton (a misstep). How does it all add up?

First, irrespective of current record sales, Nicks has every reason to record a new album. She has a wealth of material and her voice remains a uniquely expressive instrument. Whatever the record label prognosticators may argue, there is a demand for a Stevie Nicks album that doesn’t include “Stand Back” or “Landslide” for the umpteenth time. The Soundstage Sessions has both but, to its credit, it also includes gems like “How Still My Love” and “Fall From Grace”, songs that have not yet been tossed into the compilation spin cycle. Disregarding the missed opportunity of a new Stevie Nicks album, The Soundstage Sessions is mostly satisfying. Nicks sounds damn good on all of these tracks, even if the world did not necessarily need another version of “Landslide”.

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Fleetwood Mac End Of Tour Specials!

Live Nation(link)

RUMOURS REVISITED

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours
Records Revisited
By Jason Andreasen
Tigerweekly.com

When Fleetwood Mac released Rumours in February 1977, it was an immediate hit. It perched itself atop the Billboard charts for a staggering 31 weeks and garnered four top-10 singles. But not everybody loved it. Some dismissed the album - and the band - as nothing more than a practice in pandering to mainstream pop audiences.

But why? The album has all the quintessential rock storylines caged within its 39 minutes including love and betrayal, sex and drugs, hatred and optimism - all delivered with an expertly orchestrated peek-behind-the-curtain touch. How could an album with such groundwork have been seen as just pandering to pop?

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STEVIE NICKS AND MICHELLE BRANCH ON THE BEACH

I was looking for the actual published photo from this photo session - but couldn't find it. I also can't recall what magazine this photo session was for... Was it Instyle just a few years ago? This is an outtake shot from that session on the beach. Posted by Michelle Branch